By Andrew Batt:
Property prices in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, rose by 15 percent in 2012 according to local media reports.
Houmphan Sayalath, Managing Director of the RentsBuy.com real estate agent, said land prices also rose by as much as 50 percent along the banks of the Mekong River bank. Prime locations command as much as US$3,000 per sqm in the city.
"There are a number of mega land development projects under way in Vientiane and this is making people feel more confident that the price of the land will continue to increase," Houmphan told the Vientiane Times newspaper..
The government last year gave the go-ahead for Chinese firms to develop several mega-projects, and for a wetland development project by a Vietnamese firm, he said.
Last year the government permitted foreigners who invest more than US$500,000 to own 800 sqm of residential and office land, which has further boosted property prices. Previous foreigners could only lease land for a maximum of 75 years.
The land-lock communist country to the north of Thailand is ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world by the United Nations.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@allproperty.com.sg
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